Becoming an astronaut is something a lot of kids consider as they are growing up because who doesn’t want to travel into space? Taking that trip outside of the Earth’s atmosphere attached to a rocket, then experiencing weightlessness and what must be the best view of Earth there is, sounds very cool regardless of your age.

For most, it’s a pipe dream that never ends up happening and only a few very select people get to experience. But the opportunities to travel into space look like they may expand over the coming years, that is, if Virgin Galactic (VG) is successful.

VG is the arm of Virgin pushing to be the “world’s first private spaceline” by offering commercial flights into space. It has been working hard to create a craft capable of space flight, but it needs pilots to man these passenger flights, and has now listed three new positions for Pilot-Astronauts on its website.

Obviously not just anyone can apply for these positions. VG is looking for very experienced test pilots or former astronauts to join the team. You must be a US citizen, hold a current FAA commercial pilot license, have a degree, be a graduate of a test pilot school, count 3,000+ hours flying time, and know everything there is to know about aerospace aviation.

The chosen candidates will be working out of VG’s Spaceport America in New Mexico with duties initially focusing on test flights of the spaceflight system. Mission control work, flight planning, and eventually training other Pilot-Astronauts will also be part of the job brief.

Although the requirements are high for such a role, as a potential future passenger on one of these flights that should fill you with confidence. Any younger generations reading about this should get to work now and focus on your studies. One day you could be flying a Virgin Galactic craft towards the stars and realize that childhood dream.